ana's clippings

"The human cuteness detector is set at such a low bar, researchers said, that it sweeps in and deems..."

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 21:55:44 -0800

“The human cuteness detector is set at such a low bar, researchers said, that it sweeps in and deems cute practically anything remotely resembling a human baby or a part thereof, and so ends up including the young of virtually every mammalian species, fuzzy-headed birds like Japanese cranes, woolly bear caterpillars, a bobbing balloon, a big round rock stacked on a smaller rock, a colon, a hyphen and a close parenthesis typed in succession.”

- The Cute Factor - New York Times

"These are all legitimate questions which their engineers tend not to be sensitive about, because,..."

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:57:06 -0800

“These are all legitimate questions which their engineers tend not to be sensitive about, because, again, they can’t quantify it, and it takes kind of an emotional intelligence that they lack — to feel, anticipate, have empathy to understand what the other guy or the government might worry about.”

- Comparing Microsoft’s ruthless execs to Google’s cold engineers

"Today, we’re happy to introduce both Google Location History and Google Location Alerts (beta)..."

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:13:33 -0800

“Today, we’re happy to introduce both Google Location History and Google Location Alerts (beta) to let you do even more with Latitude.”

- Official Google Mobile Blog: Google Latitude, now with Location History & Alerts

"The word choice of “jumper” or “sweater” (or indeed other options such as..."

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:59:24 -0800

“The word choice of “jumper” or “sweater” (or indeed other options such as “pullover” and “jersey”) is largely determined by the regional version of English being spoken.[1] In the case of Ireland and Britain, “jumper” is the standard word with “sweater” mainly found in tourist shops. The word used in Irish is geansaí, a gaelicization of guernsey which has been re-Anglicised to gansey in Hiberno-English.”

- Aran sweater - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"I have discovered over the years that for some insane reason (Rant 7b) people seem to think that you..."

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 13:56:09 -0800

“I have discovered over the years that for some insane reason (Rant 7b) people seem to think that you are smarter and more reasonable if you have controlled breasts. I have tried to explain that I don’t think with my breasts, and that whether or not they are controlled has nothing to do with whether or not I have sound judgment or good ideas, but really, all that does is make me the crazy braless mother instead of just the braless one. For today, I should like very much to be taken seriously, and so I decided to put on a bra so that everyone can see that I am a proper mother.”

- Yarn Harlot: Underprepared, again

"WTF are you doing with a website? The new generation of beggars!! Welcome to the 21st century. ;-)"

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 13:43:00 -0800

“WTF are you doing with a website?
The new generation of beggars!! Welcome to the 21st century. ;-)”

- Lazy Beggars - FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

"Professor Forgas said: “Whereas positive mood seems to promote creativity, flexibility,..."

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:40:01 -0800

“Professor Forgas said: “Whereas positive mood seems to promote creativity, flexibility, co-operation and reliance on mental shortcuts, negative moods trigger more attentive, careful thinking, paying greater attention to the external world.”
The study also found that sad people were better at stating their case through written arguments, which Forgas said showed that a “mildly negative mood may actually promote a more concrete, accommodative and ultimately more successful communication style”.”

- BBC NEWS | Health | Feeling grumpy ‘is good for you’

"De unos veinte alumnos presentes, dos sabían qué es Twitter."

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 18:04:37 -0800

“De unos veinte alumnos presentes, dos sabían qué es Twitter.”

- Las penas del Agente Smith » Internet y la prensa

gapingvoid gallery

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:54:45 -0800

gapingvoid gallery

"I have one sec ret. You get up early in the mor ning and you work all day. That’s the only secret."

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:53:35 -0800

““I have one sec ret. You get up early in the mor ning and you work all day. That’s the only secret.””

- don’t worry about being an artist. just worry about getting the work made. | Gapingvoid

"As of the most recent quarter, Google generated $302,314 per employee."

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 14:00:11 -0700

“As of the most recent quarter, Google generated $302,314 per employee.”

- CHART OF THE DAY: Google Employee Productivity Hits 3 Year High (GOOG)

qué presión!

(via missha)

"A wearable conditioning device that detects if you’re smiling and provides pain feedback if..."

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 13:46:41 -0700

“A wearable conditioning device that detects if you’re smiling and provides pain feedback if you’re not. Frowning creates intense pain but a full smile leaves you pain free!”

- lauren mccarthy

A Camper for Even the Fussiest Design Dweeb | Design &...

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:34:01 -0700

A Camper for Even the Fussiest Design Dweeb | Design & Innovation | Fast Company

"The iPhone doesn’t support garbage collection; it’s not fast enough. So iPhone apps tend..."

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:18:42 -0700

“The iPhone doesn’t support garbage collection; it’s not fast enough. So iPhone apps tend to “leak memory,” or hang on to memory too long. Developers I’ve interviewed—even Apple Design Award winners—have mentioned to me that their iPhone apps are leaking memory almost constantly because they’re too lazy to be really anal about manual memory management. But since most iPhone apps are relatively simple, it’s not a big deal; you close the app and life goes on.”

- Apple’s Tablet Apps Will Live and Die by One Nerdy Thing | TechWatch | Fast Company

"The technical name for the new depression chamber was “vertical chamber apparatus,”..."

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:16:19 -0700

“The technical name for the new depression chamber was “vertical chamber apparatus,” though Harlow himself insisted on calling it the “pit of despair.” He had at first wanted to call it the “dungeon of despair,” and also used terms like “well of despair,” and “well of loneliness.” Blum writes that his colleagues tried to persuade him to not to use such descriptive terms, that a less visual name would be easier politically. Gene Sackett of the University of Washington in Seattle, one of Harlow’s doctoral students who went on to conduct additional deprivation studies, said, “He first wanted to call it a dungeon of despair. Can you imagine the reaction to that?”[9]
Most of the monkeys placed inside it were at least three months old and had already bonded with others. The point of the experiment was to break those bonds in order to create the symptoms of depression. The chamber was a small, metal, inverted pyramid, with slippery sides, slanting down to a point. The monkey was placed in the point. The opening was covered with mesh. The monkeys would spend the first day or two trying to climb up the slippery sides. After a few days, they gave up. Harlow wrote, “most subjects typically assume a hunched position in a corner of the bottom of the apparatus. One might presume at this point that they find their situation to be hopeless.”[10] Stephen J. Suomi, another of Harlow’s doctoral students, placed some monkeys in the chamber in 1970 for his PhD. He wrote that he could find no monkey who had any defense against it. Even the happiest monkeys came out damaged.”

- Pit of despair - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Western laziness is quite different. It consists of cramming our lives with compulsive activity, so..."

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:03:53 -0700

“Western laziness is quite different. It consists of cramming our lives with compulsive activity, so there is no time at all to confront the real issues. This form of laziness lies in our failure to choose worthwhile applications for our energy.”

- Caterina.net: Being Lazy by doing too much

Present Joys | Shop | My head is full…

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:02:38 -0700

Present Joys | Shop | My head is full…

"The goodwill captured inside these skeins is palpable—you hold it in your hands, notice the..."

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:24:49 -0700

“The goodwill captured inside these skeins is palpable—you hold it in your hands, notice the unfussy look of it, and you realize that your sweater, made from this stuff, is going to make the world a better place—FOR JEEPER’S SAKE GET BUSY!”

- Mason-Dixon Knitting: October 2009 Archives

"The two pilots of a Northwest Airlines jet that overshot a Minneapolis airport by 150 miles last..."

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 11:43:50 -0700

“The two pilots of a Northwest Airlines jet that overshot a Minneapolis airport by 150 miles last week might have lost track of time partly because they were using laptops, a violation of company policy”

- Northwest pilots say they were distracted by laptops - washingtonpost.com

"If you’re a locked-in Verizon customer, this thing isn’t half bad. But in the world of..."

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 11:39:47 -0700

“If you’re a locked-in Verizon customer, this thing isn’t half bad. But in the world of smartphones, it’s another Android device that doesn’t advance the platform. I can’t believe I’ve even found three paragraphs to write about it.”

- Droid: Almost Not Worth Writing About | TechWatch | Fast Company